Orphan, The

DESCRIPTION: "Will you hear my mournful story? All my friends are dead and gone. Father is no more, nor mother; I'm an orphan left alone." The singer recalls mother's death, and her dying injunction to obey the Bible. She visits the graveyard, and hopes to join mother
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety)
KEYWORDS: orphan mother death burial mourning
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 278-279, "The Orphan" (2 texts)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 152, "The Orphan" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Fuson-BalladsOfTheKentuckyHighlands, p. 147, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text)
ST Beld278 (Partial)
Roud #4193
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fisherman's Girl" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Orphan Girl
File: Beld278

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